NYC Guardian Angels Attend Annual 9/11 Commemoration
September 14th, 2020 admin Uncategorized No Comments »
On the night of 9/11 Guardian Angels volunteers ran down to the pit. We were on the outside patrolling because there was no way yet to block off the area and check people’s credentials coming in. After about a week of doing that every night we then began substituting for the first responders overnight as they would take a few hours break before returning to the pile. We joined the bucket brigade which continued non-stop. The debris had to be removed and put into buckets. Engineers at the scene were afraid that jackhammers or any other equipment might cause vibrations that could bring down some of the surrounding buildings. The air was heavy with toxins and the fires continued to burn under the rubble for many months. After a few days of working the bucket brigade the Guardian Angels were able to use nearby Stuyvesant High School as a place to shower, change and get some sleep. We were there from Day 1 and we developed friendships and partnerships that will last for a lifetime.
Every year we return to pay honor to those that died and the many that have gotten sick many years later after working the pile. The first picture is of the original Guardian Angels group in 2001 that was part of the nightly bucket brigade. The second picture is of the NYC Guardian Angels as we assembled in the dome which is part of the museum that now is on the original site of the WTC.
Guardian Angels Multi-Task While on Patrol
September 8th, 2020 admin Uncategorized No Comments »
There are many people who assume that all the Guardian Angels do is to voluntarily patrol communities to prevent and deter crime. That is not true. There are so many other things that we do when we are out on patrol. NY1 focused on a Guardian Angel named Emily Borghard who in addition to helping the Guardian Angels on patrol also helps the neediest of New Yorkers. Emily, aka “Casper”, four years ago began distributing socks, underwear and snacks to the homeless she would come across. In fact, she had encouraged her fellow Guardian Angels to help her in this endeavor whenever possible. She formed the “Sidewalk Samaritan” program which helps 400 persons a month with a major distribution that is done from St. John the Devine Church in Uptown Manhattan. For her selfless service she was recently named “NY1’s New Yorker of the Week.” Her dedication to her fellow man, as you can see, takes many forms. We are proud to have partnered with Casper in helping those who cannot help themselves. It’s all part of the Guardian Angels mission.
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New Yorker of the Week: Emily Borghard
NEW YORK – It’s a mission Emily Borghard began four years ago.
On her way home from grad school, she would ride the subway past a group of homeless men outside of the 168th Street subway station. But one night, she decided to stop and talk.
“They couldn’t believe that I had stopped and they started telling me how much they needed socks…. I started jumping off the train on a regular basis with socks and snacks and it became a more involved project and next thing I knew I had more people who wanted to help out,” Borghard said.
What started as an effort to help two people, now reaches more than 400 each month.
“You walk by all these people on the street and some people really just want you to acknowledge them and to know that they’ve been seen,” Borghard said.
Borghard’s organization became known as the “Sidewalk Samaritan”. Inspiring others to lend a hand.
“People started contacting me saying, ‘I have things I want to donate. Where can I donate? How can I help?” Borghard said.
Donations poured in. Bags and boxes filled with clothing and shoes come from all across the five boroughs, upstate New York, and even other states. Inspired by Borghard’s message, these Rockland women donated over 100 trash bags full of unused clothing, many still with tags.
“If you have them, you should donate them, because people need them. And they’re just sitting in our houses,” said Jennifer Riley, a volunteer.
Borghard and her team of volunteers distribute donations twice a month at St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights. But almost nightly, Borghard is out on the streets with her backpack crammed full of underwear, socks, and snacks, looking for those without.
“Any action counts. You make a difference the second you even stop to look at that person and ask them if they’re doing okay,” Borghard said.
So, for lending a compassionate hand to those in need, Emily Borghard is our NYer of the Week.
DC Guardian Angels Save a Man’s Life
September 3rd, 2020 admin Uncategorized No Comments »Yesterday at 3pm the Washington DC Police said that they were in pursuit of 2 young adult African American with guns. After a brief chase one of the suspects was shot and killed by the police. Within hours hundreds of demonstrators assembled outside of the po0lice precinct to protest. The group was mostly black but also had some white involved. 3 Guardian Angels led by John “Unique” Ayala went into the crowd and rescued a tall white man who was not wearing a shirt. He was neither drunk nor high or emotionally disturbed. The crowd however was intent on beating him up. As you see in the video Unique and Dino rescue this white guy and convince the hostile crowd to let him leave. In the distance you can see the Washington DC police who did not intervene. If not for these 3 DC Guardian Angels risking their lives to save a stranger there might have been another situation similar to what we’ve seen in Portland where demonstrators hurt or even killed an adversary. This is what Guardian Angels do. Thank you John Ayala, Dion King & Octavia Brown, all Guardian Angels veterans for running into that dangerous crowd and risking their own lives in the process.
Guardian Angels Patrolling Chicago Amidst Looting Spree
August 24th, 2020 admin Uncategorized No Comments »On the nite of Aug. 11th thousands of people ran wild through the streets of downtown Chicago looting and vandalizing the stores along State St. and the “Magnificent Mile”. 100 looters were arrested, there were 2 shootings and 13 cops went to the hospital. The city of Chicago raised it’s drawbridges over the Chicago River to prevent any other looters from flooding into the downtown for a full week. The next day Thomas “Tut” Hunt and the Chicago GA were patrolling downtown and on the CTA. For many of the stores it was the second time that they were looted in the last 2 months. They are closing for good.
While the politicians and police point fingers at one another engaged in the blame game the Chicago Guardians continue to patrol and remind the Chicago citizens that it’s time to Improve Not Move. The Chicago Guardian Angels say ” Fear Not”.
Curtis Discusses Guardian Angels Patrols on Upper West Side
August 17th, 2020 admin Uncategorized No Comments »Daily Caller: Amidst Calls To ‘Defund The Police,’ The Guardian Angels Are Patrolling NYC’s Neighborhoods
August 11th, 2020 admin Uncategorized No Comments »
As crime soars and calls to defund the police continue, New York City’s neighborhood vigilante group “Guardian Angels” are helping to patrol the streets.
Guardian Angels “is an unarmed, volunteer safety patrol” that exists in 13 countries and 130 cities, the group’s founder, Curtis Sliwa, told the Daily Caller. “But, we will physically intervene, we will make citizens arrests, we are not just eyes and ears. You know, see something say something – we take action on the spot.”
A combination of ongoing unrest following the death of George Floyd, the coronavirus pandemic, and rising crime has left the group “overwhelmed.” (RELATED: Violent Crime Explodes Across American Cities Following Nationwide Protests)
Sliwa said that the Guardian Angels have seen “the most dramatic increase in requests that we’ve had in 41 years.”
“In terms of people wanting our presence where they feel there’s a void because there’s no police because of defunding, and also because I think in some instances the police have taken the attitude ‘okay, you want to see what your world is gonna be like without police? We’ll give you a little sample,’” Sliwa said.
“And people are basically saying … enough, we need police,” he added. “But in the interim, as this battle continues, they need something. So they’re reaching out to the Guardian Angels.”
Sliwa started the group in 1979 to patrol the areas of New York City’s subways that didn’t have a police officer assigned to them because of budget cuts. The community was grateful for the group’s presence, he said, but the police were not – it wasn’t until Rudy Guliani was elected mayor in 1993 on a law and order platform that the Guardian Angels’ relationship with the police became friendly.
“We haven’t had any problems from the police since,” Sliwa said.
The group faced controversy in 1992 after Sliwa admitted to faking six crimes for publicity, the New York Times reported. Several former co-workers claimed that there were additional incidents of crimes being faked by the group. Sliwa disputed those claims and said that the people who came forward were disgruntled former members with personal vendettas.
Sliwa said the group isn’t just overwhelmed in New York City. Other places around the country have also called on the Guardian Angels after feeling the effects of nationwide unrest and efforts to defund the police.
He described fighting off looters during riots in Chicago and New York City. “In many places, we are now the first line of defense.” (RELATED: Trump Slams Cuomo For Losing New York To Looters, Says ‘NYC Was Ripped To Pieces’)
“I’m sad to say that, but the community has turned its back on the police,” Sliwa added. Many officers are now saying “‘let’s see what you can do on your own,’” he said, and it’s now up to communities to defend themselves.
The Minneapolis City Council unanimously voted to defund the police in June. New York City approved a $1 billion budget cut from the NYPD, and Los Angeles voted last week to include an item on their November ballot that would cut the budget of police and court systems by $880 million. A group of businesses and residents in Seattle filed a lawsuit against the city in June claiming the city ricked public safety by allowing the police-free Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) zone to exist for nearly a month.
The Guardian Angels only come to a neighborhood when they’re asked for, and after they come, they have a rule – that neighborhood must then set up their own Guardian Angels group. Anyone can become part of the Guardian Angels, but to qualify members must go through a 3-month training course to prepare them.
“We believe in self-help,” Sliwa said. He explained that the group has a centralized training regimen and a set of rules for all their groups.
Sliwa says that communities generally have a “positive” reaction to the Guardian Angels, although “many of them would much rather have trained police.”
Curtis Sliwa, Guardian Angels tour Upper West Side amid homeless woes
August 10th, 2020 admin Uncategorized No Comments »Featured on NY Post
Curtis Sliwa and the Guardian Angels safety patrol toured Manhattan’s Upper West Side on Sunday amid growing concerns about hundreds of homeless recently moved into neighborhood hotels by the city.
Sliwa — the group’s founder, a 2021 mayoral contender and an Upper West Sider — took to the streets with about eight members of the red-bereted Angels, meeting with locals and observing conditions.
While many of the new arrivals are just down-on-their-luck New Yorkers, the group also includes recovering addicts and convicted pedophiles.
Since the city shuttled hundreds of vagrants from packed congregate shelters into three neighborhood hotels in a bid to stem the coronavirus, area residents have reported scenes of brazen drug-dealing and use, broad-daylight masturbation and public urination.
But Sliwa, citing a security guard at one of the three hotels, said Sunday that the scene inside the makeshift shelters is every bit as troubling.
“Once they are in their room, other than if it’s an extreme emergency, you don’t have access to them. So they are shooting up in the rooms, nickel and dime bags of heroin, very cheap, $5, $10,” Sliwa relayed of the Hotel Belleclaire. “At times they can smell the K2, they can smell the crack being smoked in the rooms.
“Once you are in your room, it’s your own little island.”
While it’s up to the city to police the halls of the hotels, Sliwa, 66, has vowed to flood the streets with some 60 Angels to restore order and a sense of public safety.
He was greeted warmly by Upper West Side residents as he distributed fliers with information on how to contact and join the Angels.
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